


A Work in Progress

by Kenzie_girl_tries_writing



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Hermione Granger, BDSM, Bondage, Bottom Harry, DracoxHarry - Freeform, Drarry, Drarrython, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Healing, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Kid Fic, Kink Negotiation, M/M, Marriage, Married Life, Nightmares, Oblivious Ron Weasley, PWP, Praise Kink, Soulmates, Top Draco Malfoy, Work In Progress, eighth year common room
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:13:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27553660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenzie_girl_tries_writing/pseuds/Kenzie_girl_tries_writing
Summary: Harry and co. are back at Hogwarts for their eighth year, and Draco wants to make amends. Harry and Draco become friends and heal together.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Kudos: 17





	1. New beginnings

Draco sat bolt upright in his four poster bed drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, he stood up and walked to the window and looked out at the early morning sky, grey blue over the dew covered grounds. The smell of the morning air calming his nerves. The nightmares were getting better, he thought, really they were, or maybe he was just getting used to them. Though how one gets used to watching the Dark Lord torture their parents night after night, he’ll never understand. 

The nightmares started in 6th year, then it was a vivid image of himself murdering Albus Dumbledore playing over and over, during the war it became the Dark Lord killing his parents and then turning the killing curse on Draco himself, after the war it turned into the worst combination of everything that had ever terrified him, his parents being tortured, being hit with the sectumsempra curse, standing in the astronomy tower pointing his wand at the headmaster, flying over the roaring flames of fiend fire,and the worst of all the ringing voice of Lord Voldemort declaring that Harry Potter was dead.

Sometimes, when Draco was at his lowest, he wondered if he really did have a choice and he just wasn’t brave enough to make it, should he have disobeyed the Dark Lords orders for the greater good of the wizarding world even if it meant he and his parents would be killed? 

He let his mind wander as he looked over the grounds, he thought back to his trial, he still can’t believe that Harry Potter, the actual savior of the wizarding world himself, had testified on his behalf at a time when Draco didn’t believe he deserved to be defended, if he’s being honest he still doesn’t think he deserved it. He kept both Draco and his mother out of Azkaban. 

After the trial, Granger set him up with a liaison that helped him find a place to live when he couldn’t bear to go back to Malfoy Manor where memories of the Dark Lord still lingered in the walls. Granger actually spearheaded a task force to help rehabilitate those who had lost everything in the war, she always knows what needs to be done. Draco would never admit this out loud, but she really is the brightest witch of their time.

Draco was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of his stomach growling. The sky was still dark, breakfast wouldn’t start for another couple of hours. He sighed and started out of his room toward the kitchens.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry had woken up several hours ago and laid in bed tossing and turning until 20 minutes ago when he’d given up any thought of falling back into the warm embrace of sleep and decided to take a hot shower to try to relax, but now the water has gone cold and he feels more restless than ever so he got dressed and walked to the window to look at the still dark sky, he heaved a sigh and decided he’d better make his way to the kitchens to get something to eat before his stomach woke Ron. 

He moved as quietly as he could into the common room that he shares with everyone who came back to Hogwarts for their eighth year, there was already a fire crackling in the hearth and he saw a dark figure emerging from a door on the other end of the common room. They locked eyes for a moment before Harry coughed quietly to break the silence.

Draco looked at his feet and made a rash decision, without any thought at all, without even knowing why he did it, he said, “I’m starving….uh I was headed to the kitchens, do you….uh,” he chickened out, “never mind, I’ll leave now.” he said it all in a rush, a little bit too quietly and his face flushed bright red as he pushed past Potter.

Harry turned and watched Malfoy walk towards the door, his hand shot out of its own accord and grabbed Malfoy’s wrist. 

Draco Froze,

“Let me walk with you. I was headed there too.” Draco looked at him for a moment before his body relaxed and he gave Harry a cautious nod.

They walked in a silence that wasn’t quite comfortable for a while until Draco asked, “What are you doing up this early, Potter?”

Harry chuckled, “I could ask the same of you, Malfoy.”

Draco frowned, meeting Harry’s gaze for a moment. Cool, cloudy grey searching warm green before answering, “Nightmares.”

Harry’s smile faded, “Me too,” he paused, “I’m sorry.”

Dracos eyes shot up, “What are you sorry for, Potter? You’re the bloody savior of the wizarding world, and you’re sorry? Honestly!?” Draco sneered.

Harry recoiled, “Yeah, I’m bloody sorry Malfoy.” he spat, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” his tone softened a bit, “your mother, she saved my life and she still got 5 years house arrest.”

“You did more than enough. You kept my mother and I out of Azkaban, after everything my family did, that’s more than we could ever ask for. Merlin knows you didn’t have to do it, no one would have blamed you if you’d left us both to rot. I wouldn’t have blamed you, that’s for sure. I definitely would have deserved it.” He glanced at Potters shocked face, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Me, on the other hand, Potter I have everything to be sorry for, I know I’ve never said it but I am profoundly sorry. I could never make up for everything my family and I have done.”

Harry was looking fixedly at his feet as they walked and the silence lasted a beat too long.

“I forgave you a long time ago.” Harry glanced over at Malfoy, he looked shaken and his face was drained of all color. “You were just a kid, Malfoy. We both were, we both had so many choices thrust upon us at such a young age,” Harry’s voice rose as he spoke, the words spilling out of his mouth before he could process what he was saying, “and they weren’t even choices. As if you had a bloody choice Malfoy! Voldemort was living in your fucking house! As if I had a bloody choice ‘Oh, sorry I don’t really feel like sacrificing my life so the bloody Dark Lord can be killed and ensure the safety of the entire fucking wizarding world!’ right! We were only kids.” The last statement coming out in barely a whisper, Harry gasped for breath, his face was bright red and his hands were shaking with barely contained rage.

Draco was taken aback. They had stopped walking somewhere in the middle of Harry’s rant. He took a step towards Harry and without thinking, he took Harry’s hands in his own, he lifted them to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss into them. He held them in his own until Harry stopped shaking and his face had returned to a normal color. Before Draco released him, he lifted Harry’s hands to his lips once more and whispered, “Thank you.”

They walked the rest of the way to the kitchens in a comfortable silence.


	2. Firewhiskey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eighth years get a little tipsy

Later that morning Harry went down to breakfast with a huge smile plastered on his face that, no matter how hard he tried, just wouldn’t go away. 

He and Malfoy had spent 2 whole hours sitting in the kitchens just talking and eating. It had seemed as easy as breathing to get along with Malfoy, Harry thought. It almost made him wonder why they hadn’t been friends during their years at Hogwarts….almost. Harry knew why.

He plopped down between Hermione and Ron in a daze, and smiled into his goblet as he took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. He was distracted, thinking of the way Malfoy's whole face lit up when he talked about quidditch. Harry hadn't realized how much Malfoy loved the game, during their previous years at Hogwarts it had seemed as though Malfoy was just doing anything he could to one up Harry, and while that might have been true, Draco loved the game. He loved the strategy of it and they had spent a whole hour this morning discussing one of Draco's favorite strategists and the different plays that he'd designed. 

“Harry!” Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his face.

“Huh?” He asked, Ron and Hermione looked at him expectantly. They had obviously been asking him something and he’d been too deep in his thoughts of asking Malfoy if he’d like to play quidditch with him sometime to notice. “Sorry, “ he ginned sheepishly, “what did you ask?”

“Where were you this morning mate?” Ron asked, “You weren’t there when I woke up, we thought you’d left for breakfast already but you’re late.”

Hermione scrutinized his reaction, Harry’s eyes lit up but his grin faded. He wanted to tell them about hanging out with Malfoy, but something holds him back. Will they understand? Will they get that he’s really remorseful, and actually quite nice? Hermione might but Ron, he’s not so sure. He realizes he’s been sitting there staring at Ron for a beat too long, and he decided to keep this morning to himself. 

“Uh...I woke up early and decided to go for a walk. I must have lost track of time.”

Ron looked placated but Hermione still looked suspicious. 

They eat their breakfast and chatter about their new classes for the eighth year. Professor McGonagall wasn’t sure at first what kind of curriculum she could provide for these students who had survived the war, after thinking about it for a long time she decided that what these students needed most was to learn how to navigate a peaceful world as adults. So she put in place a few new classes, in addition to a few of the old. The eighth year students will be taking Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Wizard Government, and Career Skills.

As they spoke, Draco entered the Great Hall a careful mask painted on his face covering the huge shit eating grin he wanted to be wearing. He made his way to the eighth year table and sat down with Pansy and Blaise. 

“And where were you this morning Draco?” Pansy asked, searching Draco’s face for any sign of discomfort. Blaise looked up at Draco and snickered,

“Don’t pry Pansy, he was probably just having a wank in the shower.”

Draco scowled, “Shove off Zabini, I was not.” Draco hesitated, he wanted to tell his friends about his enlightening morning with Potter but years of living under his fathers thumb had made him slow to share. He was trying to get more comfortable but this felt...private. He glanced down the table to where the Gryffindors were sitting bunched together too close for comfort and caught Potters eye, the prat had a huge grin plastered on his face and when he saw Draco it got wider, Potter moved to wave at him but at the last second seemed to think better of it.

Pansy had followed Dracos gaze but said nothing, she had suspected there might be something there for quite a while now but she didn’t want to press the issue but rather let Draco come to it on his own terms.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night back in the eighth year common room a few Gryffindors, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dean and Seamus sat in front of the fire joined by a couple of Ravenclaws, Padma Patil and Terry Boot, and a Hufflepuff Justin Finch-Fletchley. They were talking and drinking some fire whiskey that Dean had smuggled in, when Draco, Pansy, and Blaise came back from studying in the library.

The Slytherins took in the group and assumed they weren't welcome. That had been the precedent set at the beginning of the year, the Slytherins were treated as outsiders as so many of them had been on the wrong side of the war, some of them had only come back to Hogwarts as a requirement of their parole. So they started toward their rooms when Harry called out, “Malfoy, why don’t you lot come join us?”

The room was suddenly quiet and Draco hesitated for a moment he looked at the judgmental stares of the other students . He and Potter might be getting on but he hadn’t had the opportunity to make amends with anyone else yet, to be frank he’d probably had the opportunity but lacked the courage to face the rejection he was sure he’d receive if he tried. He glanced at Potter and couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in the firelight, his face flushed from the alcohol and his eyes bright with laughter. Where the hell did that come from? Did he really think Potter was fit? The answer to that was obvious, of course he did. God he had a lot to think about, he was about to say no but before he had a chance to answer Pansy decided for him, “We’d love to.”

As the three Slytherins found their seats in front of the fire Draco could feel Potter’s stare burning into his back, and once he was seated he found the other boy’s eyes, Potter dropped his gaze quickly and everyone sat in an uncomfortable silence until Draco coughed, “Well pass the whiskey Thomas.” 

Dean grinned and passed over the bottle, Draco took a hearty swig and the conversation started back up again. As everyone chatted on about classes and the new drama going on in the halls of Hogwarts Harry found his mind wandering to thoughts he had avoided for a long time, with the a war going on there hadn't been time to entertain such notions. But tonight, in the warm firelight and the happy atmosphere and under the influence of firewhiskey his thoughts drifted to the way Malfoys blond hair gleamed in the blaze of the fire, and the way his genuine smile was so much sweeter than the callous smirk he so often wore. And the more he thought, the more obvious the thought that he had so often dismissed became, he fancied Malfoy.

“I have an idea,” Blaise says suddenly, snapping Harry out of his thoughts, “Lets play a game.”

“What kind of a game?” Boot asks, thinking nervously of the time in 5th year when his friends had convinced him to play a round of strip exploding snap, “Can I keep my clothes on?”

Blaise rolls his eyes, “I guess so, how about Never Have I Ever?”

“How do you play?” Hermione inquired,

“It’s easy,” said Pansy, “You go around the group saying something you’ve never done, and if someone in the group has done that thing, they have to drink. You go until you’re too drunk to play.”

“Bloody brilliant,” exclaimed Ron, “Only problem is we don’t have a lot of fire whiskey left.” He held the bottle up and swished the meager remains.

“I can do a refilling charm, don’t worry about it Ron.” said Harry quietly. He murmured the charm, and the bottle refilled.

“Problem solved. Who’s first?” asked Seamus,

“I’ll go,” Justin Finch-Fetchley said quickly, he looked around at Draco with a pointed look, “Never have I ever been a Deatheater.” He held the bottle out to him with a smug smile on his round face.

The room got quiet again, “That was out of line mate.” said Harry in a dark tone. He thought Justin might have been trying to make a joke, but he thought Malfoy might be sensitive about it, so he tried to catch his eye but he seemed to be intentionally avoiding his gaze.

“It’s fine Potter, I was one.” Draco fixed Finch-Fetchley with his best Malfoy sneer and without breaking his gaze took a deep drink of the fire whiskey. “Guess that makes it my turn?” He asked, then without waiting for an answer, “Never have I ever killed someone.” The statement was a calculated one, no one was supposed to drink, the room was supposed to remain silent and it was supposed to impress upon the group that he was not a bad person, just a kid whose only options had been to join up or die. Draco had miscalculated however, as soon as the words left his mouth there was a sharp intake of breath from Granger and his eyes found Potters. He glanced around the room and noticed that everyone else was also staring at Potter, he coughed in an attempt to draw the attention away from Potter and opened his mouth to apologize but Harry cut him off.

“Good one.” He said it dryly, but there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes as he drank from the bottle. Harry thought it was funny really, that anyone could forget that he had killed Lord Voldemort. He wanted to laugh until it hurt, but no one else would get it, they would think he was crazy. Harry decided to change the tone of the night a bit and try to get the attention off of himself.

“Never have I ever been excited to take a test.” He nudged Hermione in the ribs, Ron guffawed and Hermione turned beet red as she reluctantly took the bottle from Harry.

“I see how it’s going to be,” she grinned evilly, the alcohol weakening her inhibitions and blurring the lines of what she should and shouldn't say, “Never have I ever had a crush on someone of the same sex!”

Harry blanched, the firewhiskey must have gone straight to her head, he knew she meant no harm but he had told her that in confidence one night in the woods after Ron left them. It had been late and he was thinking way too much, the horcrux he wore around his neck telling him that he was worthless because he liked blokes, that his parents would have been disappointed, he tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter anyways, that he probably wouldn’t survive the war, there was really no point in trying to work out his feelings about this, but ultimately he had decided to confide in Hermione and he had told him what he needed to hear that night. 

“Harry, there’s nothing wrong with you fancying boys. I love you just the same and your parents would have loved you no matter what, I'm sure of it…” she had paused and smiled, “But don’t you dare lead Ginny on!”  
They had laughed a lot that night, which was a rare occurrence. 

Harry reached for the bottle but it had already moved to Dean who was blushing with his whole body, Harry hadn’t seen that one coming. It was then passed to Pansy, who didn’t look embarrassed at all. Harry reached for it again but was intercepted but Malfoy, who decided, with a little help from the alcohol, to maintain eye contact with Potter while he took his sip. 

What on earth does that mean? Harry thought, Did Malfoy like blokes too?

Draco wasn’t exactly sure why he did it but it was strangely exhilarating. The bottle was finally passed to Harry, who drank deeply, trying to shake the warm feeling that built in the pit of his stomach when Malfoy had looked at him. If he didn’t know better, he would have called the look in his eyes...Lust. 

Harry coughed, “Who’s turn does that make it now?” His voice came out a little strained. 

“I’ll go,” Pansy suggested, “Never have I ever…..hmmm let me think, never have I ever fancied someone in this room.”

Blaise barked a laugh, “Liar! You fancied Draco for ages!”

“Oh well.” She shrugged and took a hearty swig from the bottle and passed it pointedly to Draco.

Draco took it reluctantly but paused before putting the bottle to his lips, “You do know it isn’t you I fancy, right Pans?”

Harry, well under the influence now, took the bottle from Malfoy and asked, “Fancy? As in you currently fancy someone in this room?” He took his drink and passed the bottle onto Hermione and Ron.

“Honestly Potter, if you were any slower you’d be going backwards. That’s what I said isn’t it?” Draco smirked without malice. “You drank too, Potter. Who is it that you fancy?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Harry smiled, He would quite like to know who it was that Malfoy fancied. It probably wasn’t him, there was too much history, too much animosity...still he couldn’t help but hope. 

Draco grinned, this was good whiskey. If he’s being honest with himself, he really wanted Potter to say that it was him, who he fancied. But Draco knew that he’d been on the wrong side of the war, there was no way the The Chosen one could possibly fancy him. But hey, a guy can dream right? “Yeah maybe I would.”

They looked at each other for a moment, their eyes brimming with what they both desperately wanted to say, neither daring. 

Ron coughed loudly, drawing the two boys out of their trance. “We’re all still here, in case you hadn’t noticed.” 

Everyone laughed at that, and the game continued well into the night, Harry and Draco sneaking glances at one another when they thought the other wasn’t looking and verbally sparring whenever the opportunity presented itself. The ice had been broken between the Slytherins and the rest of the returning eighth years, there were still miles to go to build a bridge that had never existed in the first place, there were still many apologies to be made. Draco decided that night that he wanted to befriend these people, to do that he would need to work very hard to gain their trust, he'd started that process with Potter already.

Draco’s next goal was Hermione, he thought she was a good place to start. If he befriended Granger surely Weasley would follow behind shortly and Draco thought that if his friendship with Potter were to progress beyond friendship, as he desperately wanted it to, he would need to make nice with Potter's friends. It was going to be difficult, but like everything in his life right now, it was a work in progress.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is being written as it's posted. That helps keep me motivated to keep writing. I'd love to hear what you want to see happen and maybe I'll incorporate it.


End file.
